PHOTOS: Stretch it out to help decrease daily pain in the body

This movement takes the classic fly opener stretch and includes a hamstring, glute and lower back stretch as well. Do the classic fly stretch and pull the feet away from the body until you have to reach out to grab them. While keeping the chin up, grab your feet and pull the chest towards the heels of the feet. Try your best not to lower the head to increase the lengthening of the glutes and hamstrings. This will also help to prevent lower back strain. This movement is great for the lower back as well as hamstring and glute pain.
Michilea Patterson — Digital First Media

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Many people experience pain in the body on a regular basis whether it’s in the back, neck, shoulders, knees or other areas. Pain is caused by a variety of different reasons such as tension, stress, overuse, injuries or bad posture.

Kyle Hartson is strength coach at the Maxout Strength Studio in Limerick. He teaches a dynamic stretching class which he says incorporates active movements so people build muscle and gain strength while also stretching the muscles.

“So you can almost get an exercise … as well as getting a stretch in dynamic stretching,” he said.

Hartson, 37, has been an athlete all his life. He was a semi-professional snowboarder for four years. He played soccer in school and did rowing. He has been skateboarding since he was six years old. Hartson said he did a lot of impact sports that involved very jarring movements which led to several injuries. He’s had four knee surgeries, two shoulder surgeries and seven concussions. Hartson said after his surgeries, he couldn’t sit cross-legged on the floor (similar as to the Lotus position) and was having a hard time getting off the ground without pain.

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Hartson’s wife encouraged him to give yoga a try and he was surprised to feel sore after the first class.

“For me knowing that I was sore means my body was doing something that it wasn’t used to doing but needed to do,” he said.

Once Hartson started doing stretching movements on a regular basis, his aches and pains began to fade away.

“I was able to reach my toes and then I was able to put my palms on the ground. Then a couple months later, I was able to do a split at 35 years old,” he said.

Hartson hasn’t had any other injuries since he started stretching on a regular basis. In his dynamic stretching class, Hartson works with individuals that had injuries similar to his or even worse. He also works with people that just want to feel better on a daily basis after experiencing regular pain in the back, hips, joints or areas of the body.

Hartson said pain in these areas are extremely common especially when considering that many people spend long periods of time sitting down hunched over a screen. He said this puts the body in an unnatural position which can lead to regular pain.

“It’s amazing how much less pain you can have if you just move,” Hartson said.

For more about Maxout Strength Studio or the dynamic stretching class, contact Hartson at 610-948-5959 or email him at khartsonw@maxoutcorp.com. Visit the Maxout Strength studio website at www.maxoutstudio.com.